What Influencer Marketing Looks Like in the Metaverse
Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for spreading brand awareness and generating leads. For branded events and experiences, influencer marketing is also instrumental in creating a buzz, increasing attendance, and sustaining the excitement long after a point-in-time event. As metaverse events grow in popularity, brands need to consider what influencer marketing looks like in the metaverse. While qualities of life in the metaverse are still evolving, here are a few developments to anticipate.
New Types of Collaborations
First, the metaverse will enable many new types of collaborations between brands and influences. In social media, collaborations currently consist of sponsored social media posts, social media takeovers, and gifting products. In the metaverse, the collaboration options expand to include sponsored experiences, savvy product placements, and unique opportunities exclusive to the metaverse. These collaborations allow brands to tap into online communities and form closer customer relationships.
New Types of Influencers
The metaverse empowers influencers to break the existing mold. In the metaverse, influencers may be real people or virtual simulations with personalities and values that resonate with the audience. The identity and persona of an influencer could change for each consumer with a simulation. Brands can now design their influencers to represent their brand image perfectly through simulations.
More Engaging Influencer and Brand Collaborations
Within the metaverse, everything is fair game. The physical limitations and logistical parameters in the physical world are largely irrelevant in a virtual space. Brands have more control over brand ambassadors and can create more engaging collaborations. 3D technology and virtual experiences increase the value of engagements and allow brands to develop deep and unique customer relationships.
More Immersive Experiences
The metaverse offers unlimited possibilities for showcasing products and services. Brands and influencers can take their audience on buying journeys that are impossible in the physical world. For example, a medical device company influencer could take doctors, medical professionals, and consumers on a "Magic School Bus" style tour inside the human body to showcase the device's capabilities. Participants would witness and develop an understanding of how the product provides life-saving technology through an unforgettable experience. Furthermore, the metaverse allows all audience members to participate in a brand experience, regardless of location or physical capabilities. For instance, a person may not be able to rock climb, but their avatar can go on a spectacular rock climbing adventure with an influencer in the metaverse.
A Blurry Line Between Virtual and Real Worlds
As the metaverse becomes increasingly comprehensive and more events occur within it, integration into everyday life will be widespread. Eventually, like many mainstream technologies, it may be easier to comprehend life with the metaverse. Between the incredible experiences and customizable brand influencers, the lines between the virtual and real world will begin to blur.
New Opportunities for Brands
Social media powered the rise of influencers, and the metaverse will take influencer marketing to the next level. Within the metaverse, brands gain access to new opportunities to connect with their audience and communicate the value of their offering. For example, brands are no longer limited to singular, one-dimensional events. Instead, brands can create highly personalized, exclusive virtual events. Simulations empower brands to develop influencers attuned to prospective customers' preferences, providing a next-level brand experience.
The Value of Expert Partnerships Will Rise
The benefits of partnering with an experienced event marketer are evident to many brands. To keep up with the ever-changing business landscape, brands must quickly adapt and embrace new opportunities. Expert support will be crucial for brands to navigate the metaverse, especially when creating influencers and launching events. The best partnership for a brand is with a future-ready team. At Hamilton, we are here to help. We have a long history of creating cutting-edge and impactful brand experiences.
Hamilton is an event marketing agency with a 75-year legacy in creating immersive brand experiences for companies throughout North America and worldwide. We design, produce, and execute integrated experiences – events, environments, exhibits, and digital solutions – that drive meaningful connections between your brand and your audience. To get a jumpstart on influencer marketing in the metaverse, contact us today!